Many businesses offer membership programs. Some membership programs offer access to a store for the purchase of goods and services. This is common in membership warehouse stores. Other membership programs offer discounts on items for members. Yet other programs allow members to participate in incentive programs. Some membership programs are free while others require a one-time fee, a monthly fee, or a yearly fee.
Regardless of the type of membership program, a prospective member is often required to fill out a membership application prior to receiving an identification card with the member's membership information. The member can then pursue the benefits of the membership program.
Current membership programs rely on the identification cards as authentication of a customer's member status and to grant the customer access to the store, store discounts, and other membership benefits. This is undesirable to the customer due to the inconvenience having to carry the card. In the event the card is lost or stolen, there is little the customer can do to retrieve the card or at least prevent another person from gaining access to the membership benefits granted by the card. The store can issue another card but there is no tracking information associated with the member card as there is with a consumer credit card.
Many customers use written, typed, or mental lists as a reminder of items needed when going to a store. Electronic devices, such as PDAs and smart phones, now offer word processing programs that facilitate the creation of a shopping list. When the customer enters a store, it is the customer's responsibility to remember the list and find each item on the list. Stores are typically designed such that the items are logically arranged; however, it is impossible to arrange the items to satisfy each customer's needs.
Subtle changes, such as end cap changes, promotional rearrangements, and the like, can be confusing to the customer in trying to find an item that has been moved due to one of these changes. Currently, there are no systems that provide list and mapping functions on a mobile device in order to better serve the customer in finding each item.
When a customer desires to purchase an item, the customer can use a check-out terminal operated by a store associate or a self check-out terminal for performing the check-out functions. The customer is often provided multiple payment options for purchasing the item including cash, credit card, debit card, check, gift certificate, gift card, traveler's checks, or government credits. These methods all require the customer to carry cash on hand, checks, or a number of cards for the varying payment methods.
The aforementioned art includes deficiencies that are overcome by the new systems and novel methods disclosed herein. The applicant desires to create a need and market for these new systems and novel methods that provide the following functions on a mobile device: membership program functions; list functions; item in-store mapping functions; item search functions; and remote charging functions using a mobile device or using a service provider account.